Shoe-stretching device



Aug. 11, 1925.

A. H. ANDERSON SHOE STRETCHING DEVICE Filed Aug. 4. 1925 IN1/:Arme MArron/wry Patented Aug. 1l, 1925e untreu stares Parent orifice.

ADELBERT H. ANDERSON, oFcANAs'ro'rA, new YORK.

sHoE-sranrcnrne DEVICE.

Application filed August 4, 1923. Serial No. 655,640.

To all @0730mt't Amay concern.' ln the drawings:

Be it known that I, ADELBERT H; Asume Figure l is a perspective view ofa shoe soN., a citizen of the United States of stretching deviceembodying the various fea- Anierica, of Canast'ota, `in the 'county oftures of my invention. 55

Madison, in the State of New York, have in- `Figure 2 is a longitudinalsectional view ventedy new and useful improvements in of the same takenon line 2-2, Figure 1. Shoe-Stretching Devices, of which the fcl-Figures 3 and 4- are transverse sectional lowing, taken in connectionwith the accom- Views taken onl lines 5L-3, and 4-4, F panying drawings,is a full7 clear, and exact ure 1. Y 6o 1o description. Figure is asectional view of. a shoe rthis invention relates to a device forshowing the larger end of the stretchingdestretching and smoothing thecounter i vice in position for stretching and smoothand cross seams ofthe uppers of shoes 111g the upper marginal edge of the and analogousarticles of wearing apparel to Counter the dotted lines indicating the15 otros@ the Some to t moro oomfortably upon smaller end of the saluedevice in operative the foot of the wearer. position for stretching andsmoothing the It frequently happens that shoes which Cl'OSS-Sea1ns andtoe caps of the upper are lcarried in Stock for greater or logs po- Thisdevice 1s preferably made of hard riod of time become more or lessdeformed, WOOd Such as maple although it may be 20 p-rrtoularly alongthe upper marginal edge made of any suitablematerial and consistsA ofthe oounter around ,the rear of tho of an elongated bar of greaterlength than heel and at the oros? seams and too box of the length of theshoe so that when one end the upper and at other torres, @von isinserted in the toe, theothei' end will er;A though the shoes of a pairmay be Por-foot tend some distance beyond the heel to serve 25 in formand Woll matched so that @von 'rf as a handle by which the A*device may'be one shoe may properly fit the oorregponding l'OClCl by hand about itSlOiSjitudiHal axis foot of the wearer, the other foot may be of 0IWhellthe last Hamed Gnd `is inserted into slightly differentconformation than its fmthe heel end of the Shoe and its vOpposite endresponding shoe so that the wearing ofthe mayv pro]ect some distanceabove the tip'of So latter might produce more or less irritation th@S110? EO 2,1150 Serv@ as a handigJ whlch of the foot particularly at thepoints named7 the device may be rotated ahOUU lts. lOlg'GU" and the mainobject of my present invention dlnal axis. v p is to provide a simpleand comparatively -certain portion of the length of one inexpensiveimplement capable of being end as -1-, of the device somewhat greater 85used by the seller or user for reforming such than the height of theCOlulter 7 as 1r-1 portions of the shoe as may be required to 0f theShoe -A-, is oblong in cross section adjust to be comfortable upon thefoot or with its greatest width somewhat less than the wearer. thetransverse width of the portion of the In other words7 I have sought torender shoe which receives the heel of the user and 90 the sameimplement useful for application therefore of less width than theopening in to either the counter or to the various the top of the shoewhich receives the ankle parts including the cross seams and caps ofthus permitting that end of the device to be the upper of the shoe, andat the saine readily inserted into the opening of the shoe time to avoidany excessive pressure or force adjacent the counter -f/ras shown in 9.5which would overstrain the leather or seams Figure 5, whereupon the shoemay be taken during the stretching or smoothing operain one hand and theupper end of the device tions and to determine such pressure or in theother hand and said device rotated force solely by the sense of feeling,about its longitudinal axis with sufficient Other objects and usesrelating to specific manual force or pressure against the upper .59parts of the device will be brought out in marginal edge of the counteri to stretch the following description. i' and smooth the same as may berequired to,

render the wearing of the shoe more comfortable at that point. l

The outer or lower end of the enlarged oblong portion 1- is tapered orrounding at e-2-h to enable it to coliform more closely to the interiorcontour of the portion ot the shoe at the base of the counter -a and toalso form a smooth bearingon the upper portion of the heel to preventmutilation of the lining or' the shoe and also to facilitate therotation of the device around and against the upper marginal edge of thecounter with the pressure required to'produce the desired stretching andsmoothing.

The opposite end as of the device is reduced in cross sectional size,but is also oblong or `elliptical in cross section and of less size thanthe interior cross sectional size of the toe of the shoe into which itis adapted to be inserted under forward endwiser` pressure by hand, andthen rotated about its longitudinal axis to produce the desiredstretching and smoothing of the transverse seams or capas shown, of theupper -b-. Y

The elliptical portion +8- of the device continues from the small :endsome distance toward thelarger end a distance equal to or slightlygreater than the distance from the toe cap to the opening in the top ofthe 'shoe to permit all parts thereof to Vbe utilized in stretching andsmoothing the cross seams and toe cap oit' the upper, theportionsbetween the enlarged end- 1 and smaller ellipticalend beinggraduallyfreer in one direction or tapered in the opposite direction sothat the'outer surfaces named, gradually merge withV the larger andsmaller ends.

The longitudinal cornersof the oblong end -lare also rounding in crosssection, and gradually merge into the elliptical portion 4 3- oi' thesmall end so as to prevent abrasion or mutilation of the lining orleather of the shoe when the device is rotated about its longitudinalaxis in the act of stretching the different parts of the shoe.V

For a similar reason, the corners of the outer end 'ofv the smallelliptical portion 3-4 are also rounded and serve as bear` ings againstthe `inner sole of the shoe when the smaller end is inserted in the toethereof, and the device rotated for stretching and smoothing the seamsand toe caps.

When the device is used for stretching and smoothing the counter, thelarger end -lis inserted through the opening in the top of the shoe withits lowerV end resting upon the heel of said shoe, the upper or smallendv being then used as a handle whereby the larger end may be pressedlirmly against the counter and rotated about its longitudinal axis toeffect the desired stretching and smoothing of the counter, p i l Inorder to fstretch and smooth the cross seams and fits cap of the upper,the smallereelliptical end of the device is inserted through the openingin the top of the shoe until tightly wedged between `the upper sideofthe upper and insole Whereupon the larger end may be used as a han-'dle by which the device is pressed forwardly and simultaneously rotatedabout its 1ongitudinal axis to produce the desired stretch and smoothingot' thecross seams and toe cap. f

What I claim is: e i

A shoe stretching device consisting of an elongated bar having one ,endrelatively larger than its other end, the larger end being substantiallyrectangular in cross section and the smaller end substantially ellip-`tical in cross section, the length of the largerrectangular end' being`greater than the depth of the counter of a shoe forstretching allportions of said counterf'by a rotary pressing motion ofsaid rectangularportion against the inside of the counter, the smaller elliptical endbeing adapted to be used to stretch the toe of the shoe.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 25 day of July,1923.

ADELBERT H. ANDERSON.

Witnesses: Y i

ALBERT E. CAMPBELL, ETHEL M. YoRToN.

